Friday, July 11, 2008

Without Further Ado...

I finally have some time to work on my "vacation" post.

Every year at the end of June, the family embarks on its big trip. We visit Sybil's family in a big city in a large state. It is a big to do. Sybil and the kids go for one week, and I join them for another week. Being alone for a week would be heaven, if not for the fact that Sybil and I have cell phones. Anyway, being at Sybil's house means there has to be a certain decorum.

For some background, Sybil is from a large Asian city. She came to the states when she was seven. When we visit her folks, I have to act slightly differently. This usually leads to Sybil's wrath and an ensuing "discussion." Sybil is keenly aware of what people say and do, especially yours truly. This is intensified with her family. She is afraid of embarrassment and causing her folks to feel that journeying to visit is hassle. Of course, it is a hassle. However, I don't mind.

This past trip I did two things that really pissed Sybil off. I accept responsibility for my actions. The things I did would have irritated me too. They were unthinking acts.

The first act occurred at a large mall. All five of us, one of her brothers, and our niece (8) and nephew (4) were with us. We spent several hours there. It was time to eat, and we were trying to decide what to eat. There is a Cheesecake Factory there. The kids and I love cheesecake, and we don't have one here. I thought that would be a nice place to go. Sybil decided that would be too much for the kids. Apparently, she and her brother decided to just eat in the food court. Whatever. I was disappointed but whatever. I asked Sybil what she wanted. At first, she said pizza. I knew that was wrong. Sybil doesn't like pizza. I asked again, and she said she doesn't care. I asked a third time, and she told me to "just walk around and see what's available and call me." She was going to sit with the younger kids whilst I got the food. It was starting to become a hassle, because no one wanted to go to the same place. Finally, I told my kids to go to this chicken franchise. I procured the food and brought it back to the table. I totally forgot to walk around and call Sybil. Needless to say, she was not happy. I asked what she wanted. She didn't know. I offered to walk around, and she said forget it. Son #2 didn't finish his food, so she ate that. I got an earful. At first I stated that all she had to do was look around. That I didn't need to "walk around and call her." Naturally, this means that I only care about myself. After all, I had food.

The other big blow-up occurred later that week. The kids and I waited for Sybil and her sister to return for shopping, so we could all go out for dinner. When she arrived, the first thing she did was loudly say, "Hurry up and get your shoes and socks on, so we can go." I replied, "Alright, alright. Chill out." This crawled all over Sybil. She told me to lighten up. She was only joking. I replied that I was too. I explained that the harshness of her tone, when she walked into the house, caught me off guard. I wasn't trying to be rude or cause a scene. See, it wasn't what I said or how I said it; it was only about causing a scene. This would make her parents feel uncomfortable and ask us not to come back, because it's too big of a hassle. Um...ok. Maybe what I said was a little rude, but I doubt her parents would think we were fighting because we were there. Sybil and I just fight.

Sadly, these two incidents cast a pall over the visit. Sybil harbored resentment towards me. There was no great vacation sex. But, there never is with Sybil (see post about Las Vegas). Other than seeing an MLB game, it was kind of calm. Sybil went shopping a lot with her sister, which kept her out of my hair.

You're probably wishing I posted another video.

11 comments:

Trueself said...

Food court vs. Cheesecake Factory? I'll be honest here and say that if anyone tried to keep me away from a Cheesecake Factory restaurant on the rare occasion of me being close to one, they would be lucky to retain their life.

As far as what to eat in the food court, could she not see the various places to eat from where she was sitting? Could she not make up her own damned mind? Of course, if I'd been you it wouldn't have been a problem because I'd have been with the kids down at the Cheesecake Factory. (Yeah, I know, I'm a bitch.)

As for the other thing, it sounds like she is just hyper sensitive over a lot of things, and probably even more so in front of her family. I imagine that she feels this imaginary requirement for perfection that causes her to perceive ever little thing you do as a misstep.

IMHO, she has some serious growing up to do. My opinion is based, largely, on the the serious growing up I had to do to get over some behaviors (not all, but definitely some) that you've mentioned here and in the past with Sybil.

Anonymous said...

I'll try and keep this as IMHO but SERIOUSLY.... She sets you up to fail every single time!!! She's got that thing going on there in your family that displays SHE's the Boss, what SHE says goes and you had better do what SHE says and do it right. How do women do that? I have 2 sisters that can manipulate the shit out of their husbands and get their way each and everytime.

It's not funny Aphron but as I was reading your post, the behaviors you were put through and the behaviors dipslayed kind of reminded me of what a monkey goes through before they get shocked because they didn't pick the desired outcome. I'm not saying you're a monkey by no means at all but dear dear dear ... you do not get the respect you deserve, you are constantly put on the chopping block in front of your children and others and you're manipulated to see it HER way all of the time. What about your feelings as a man? As a human being?
Everytime I read a post like this, I want to scream! I guess it just hits close to home for me as I watch the 2 sisters I have get away with the same dynamics. I also come from an abusive marriage many MANY moons ago.. if I even so much as thought about questioning ANYTHING, asking for ANYthing or didn't jump when he snapped his fingers, I ended up in the hospital. (many times)
Sorry... I got carried away.

I hope you're able to find a reasonable solution to some of this stuff that goes on between you to. Have you tried anything and had it ever seemed to have worked?

Phyllis Renée said...

Aphron, I feel for you. At the food court, though, I wouldn't have second guessed her on the pizza. As for the other, well, that can just be chalked up as a misunderstanding.

aphron said...

trueself-
Hypersensitive is a good term. She abhors drama, yet seems to enjoy creating it. There is a fine line between being assertive and being hateful.

c-marie-
I realize that I'm being manipulated. Also, I'm beginning to realize we're in a kind of S&M codependency. The question is how to break the cycle. I'm not sure that anything other than divorce is the answer. I'm not ready for that solution.

phyllis renee-
Any reasonable person would have chalked it up to miscommunication/misunderstanding. Sadly, there are too many resentment issues boiling under the surface for us, right now. Every time one of these things happen, Sybil resents me, and I resent her. Each time it occurs, letting go of the resentment becomes more difficult.

Jody said...

Yikes, as a married Asian woman with three children, I'm beginning to feel a little paranoid about my future self. I wonder if there are hidden genes in our blood that turns us into vampires as we age. . .
I'm sure this has come up in your blog before, but have you gone into counseling?
I could see how resentment would grow every time something like that happens. Does she want to stay in the marriage or is her aim divorce?
I hope not every day is like this one.

aphron said...

jody-

Sybil has thrown the divorce thing in my face a time or two. The last time I finally said for her to call her lawyer. She replied that I had given up. Nice. Counseling may or may not be the answer. I've brought it up. She refuses to go. Frankly, I don't have time. I can't say that it is an Asian thing. I know plenty of Caucasian women that do this. It's more about control. Sybil has to be in control. Always.
Thanks for stopping by.

FTN said...

I'm constantly fascinated at the ridiculous things that you guys fight about. Honestly, I think I'd probably laugh at someone that started yelling at me over food court decisions. Hey there, honey. Can't you work on finding some more important issue to freak out about?

But I'm sure that wouldn't help matters...

aphron said...

ftn-
Hey, she started it. I'm amazed at the silly things, too. There are many times I feel ambushed, because it is such a silly thing. I don't think she has ever forgiven me for past insults. Honestly, some of the insults were genuine. Most aren't. If one lives with another for 15 years, there are going to be insults. Some of them may be big. I don't mean cheating, or staying out getting drunk or anything. Big is a relative term. For Sybil, everything is big. Nothing must pass. I can't make her forgive me. I can only work on forgiving her.

Bunny said...

I'm so sorry. That's just ridiculous, childish behavior on her part. Does her dad kowtow to her mother like she expects you to kowtow to her? (Or perhaps her dad does it to her mom and she takes after dad?) Odd behavior. Does her family seem to find her obnoxiousness to you strange or do they just accept it? See, one thing I like when we visit with my hub's family is that (1) generally he's nicer to me and (2) if he treats me crappy his family totally calls him on it.

Sort of in reply to FTN's comment:
I have tried using humor to deflect the idiotic fights - a laugh followed by "are we really going to fight about {insert ridiculous topic}? It only has about a 20% success rate. The other 80% of the time it just escalates the matter because now I'm not taking him seriously. When the perpetually pissed-off partner (PPP) is in the mood to fight, nothing will derail him/her.

Therese in Heaven said...

Aphron, what is your breaking point? I mean, nearly all the arguments you talk about go exactly this same way.

She is always pissed off, and ALWAYS flies into a rage over really stupid stuff. If this is par for the course, then could it really get worse if you stood up to her?

If you are "damned if you do, damned if you don't" wouldn't it be nice to be a "do" every now and then? YOU might feel better, even if she's angry (since there seems to be no helping that) if you call her on it.

aphron said...

therese in heaven-

We all have a breaking point. I've come close to reaching mine. There have been times I wanted to chuck it. In the end, I know it's how she is. I've also realized it's cyclical. Maybe hormonal. The choices before are: live with it and bitch and moan (blogging about it along the way) or divorce. I've post about why that isn't an option for me at this point. As time goes along, it may become one.